How can I crimp my own IDC cables? (IDE, Floppy, etc)

[CZroe]

Every electronics supply catalog want's thousands for the IDC (Insulation Displacement Connector) crimping tool even though any old vice will do. At work, I've found one with no adapters that only fits the huge floppy card-conector kind, though they have spools of 40 and 80-conductor wire.

So, I'm looking to source these:
IDC crimp tool and adaptors (Do I need a special one for 80-conductor wires?)
IDC ribbon cable (34, 40, 80 wire varieties)
Cable tester (With some way to "Pass" or "Fail" ATA100-capable cables)

Can anyone help me? Where do I look?

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Whoa... what for?
Are we being super anal about cable length in the case or is there some other nifty reason?

 

[CZroe]

Being super-anal about sores not having ATA66 cables in stock, customers having bad cables and cable length.

Tired of IDE connectors facing the wrong way and looping or twisting needlessly.

Also, there's an XBOX mod where you attach three IDE devices to the cable and switch the power on and off to enable/disable the set of HDDs.

And more stuff I don't remember...

 

[CZroe]

BUMP

 

[Jeff7]

I have seen some of the stuff for it, but only 40-conductor cables; I have yet to see any of the 80-conductor cabling for sale by itself. The prices where I saw it (here are a bit much just for ribbon cables - 50 cents each just for the end connectors. For that price per cable, I'd rather get rounded cables. True they don't really come in custom lengths (extensive customization adds to the amount of inventory that needs to be maintained), but the cables I've worked with (SVC's) are pretty easy to manipulate.

 

[CZroe]

I've found scraps of the 80-conductor type at work though their only IDC crimp is for a huge obsolete floppy connector. There is no size adapter like I've seen.

Anyone know if the female IDC connectors attached to 80-conductor cables have 80 "teeth" or just 40?

 

[zephyrprime]

I've made ide cables before. These sorts of thing are readily available, except for maybe the cable tester. Try digikey or mouser. There are possibly some stores in your location if you live in a large metro.

 

[CZroe]

I get both catalogs, but I tried Newark (The BIG one) and couldn't find anything. I'll check. Thnx!